


New Beginnings

by EternallyEC



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Post-Canon, Valentine's Day, birthday gift, it's so fluffy I could die, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29149986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternallyEC/pseuds/EternallyEC
Summary: Gwen hates Valentine's Day, but she loves Zoey enough to work around that.
Relationships: Gwen/Zoey (Total Drama)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [velveteenvamp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/velveteenvamp/gifts).



> New fandom, new ships to write for! 
> 
> And a very happy birthday to my darling best friend who has introduced me to many brilliant things, this fandom and this pairing being one of them, and for whom this yarn was spun. I hope this brings you a little extra joy on your special day!

Gwen had always hated Valentine’s Day. 

She knew that it sounded like a stereotype but she really didn’t care. The implication that the gifts you gave for one day out of the three hundred and sixty-five days in a year could somehow quantify the strength of a relationship had never made sense to her; indeed, the older she got, the more she realized that everything about the ‘holiday’ was fairly toxic, at least taken at face value. 

But the great thing about holidays was that you could un-lame any of them by making your own traditions, and that was exactly what Gwen endeavored to do. 

She’d picked a bunch of wildflowers at the park and found a vintage aluminum coffee can at a local thrift store, surprising the owner by buying everything being stored in it when he wouldn’t budge on selling the can. At that point, he’d let it go and she’d spent a few hours thoroughly cleaning and painting it red with a black heart on it before repurposing it as a makeshift vase for the wildflowers. 

As an artist, taking the day off work had been easy, considering she was her own boss, but she’d ended up spending a few hours on a small painting anyway. She thought that it was pretty perfect for the occasion honestly, and she decided to make it part of everything. 

Once the time came to start getting ready, she carefully moved the easel to rest by the table, facing the door. The flowers were resting in the middle of the table and she’d carefully prepared a delicious meal for them to share, and the best part of all of it was that she’d managed to do it all without compromising a single one of her beliefs. 

And when the door opened and a beautiful redhead with a flower tucked neatly into her hair walked in, the look on her face was everything. 

~

“Gwen!” Zoey gasped, glancing around in surprise. Everything looked so wonderful, but then her eyes landed on the repurposed coffee can that was painted red to match her favorite color, with a black heart that was obviously meant to represent Gwen and her eyes started to water, a fierce feeling of love threatening to overtake her as she realized how much Gwen had worked to give her a good Valentine’s Day despite her own convictions. 

But that was nothing compared to the way her heart soared when her eyes landed on the beautiful painting that was resting beside the table. The scene was one that she remembered well; a redhead and a dark-haired goth girl lay together, practically entwined, on a blanket in the park, surrounded by greenery and with the sun high in the sky. 

_ Gwen had been her best friend for almost three years, but if Zoey was really, truly honest, she’d wanted something more. Something much more.  _

_ And as they lay together on the blanket, resting after gorging themselves on a huge meal, she was startled to realize that they were wrapped around each other, her head nearly resting on Gwen’s chest, and she wondered how long it had been since she’d been this close to another person.  _

_ After things with Mike had ended, the pair having found they had too little in common without the thrill of constant danger and mutual disdain of Chris McLean and Total Drama to talk about, she’d given up on the idea of finding love again. Even her feelings for Gwen, which had resurfaced very quickly after the break-up, were too terrifying for her to confront.  _

_ For the past year, she’d done everything either alone or in the safety of her best friend’s company, totally ignoring her own feelings for fear of destroying something else she held dear.  _

_ But today, in this moment, she felt something shifting, changing inside of her, and she let her fear give way to the bright sensation blooming in her chest. It was a feeling of… hope, of possibility, and she closed her eyes and breathed it in before opening them again to find Gwen looking at her strangely.  _

_ “Zoey?”  _

_ The question went unanswered, at least verbally. Before she could give herself a second to think twice about it, she’d used her hands to prop herself up and leaned in for a kiss. Pausing just shy of Gwen’s lips in an attempt to give her a chance to reject her, her eyes widened when Gwen closed the gap between them and soft, blue-painted lips met hers in a tentative kiss that tasted of nothing more than new beginnings.  _

“I can’t believe you did this,” Zoey beamed, wiping away the tears that had started falling while she was caught up in her reverie, rushing forward to hug her girlfriend tightly. After several seconds, she pulled back just enough to kiss Gwen softly. “It’s all so beautiful!” 

“But I thought you hated Valentine’s Day,” she said with a thoughtful frown, linking her arms around Gwen’s neck.

“Yeah, but you love it,” Gwen shrugged, the movement small so as not to dislodge her girlfriend’s hold. “Besides, I didn’t spend money on any corporate bullshit, so it doesn’t go against anything I believe in  _ and  _ it makes you happy.” 

“I really love you,” Zoey smiled, leaning forward to kiss the tip of her nose lightly, giggling when her stomach chose just that moment to rumble loudly. “And the food smells really yummy too!” 

“Then we should eat before it gets cold,” Gwen grinned, kissing her one more time before releasing her. 

~

And as she watched Zoey start to make a plate in between fawning over everything again, Gwen had to admit that maybe Valentine’s Day wasn’t  _ so  _ bad as long as you were in it for the right reasons. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think!


End file.
